Klarinet Archive - Posting 000753.txt from 1998/01

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: VIBRATO IN WIND PLAYING
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 19:12:12 -0500

> From: MX%"klarinet@-----.06
> Subj: VIBRATO IN WIND PLAYING

> Vibrato in Wind Playing

A wonderful bit of clarinet history from a great player. I don't
endorse his views but I am so pleased that Av posted them. He
(Bellison) represents a very consisten positition taken by most
clarinet players of that time.

Thanks Av.

>
> This article was written before Mr. Bellison' death and delivered to the
> Clarinet, a Symphony Quarterly.
> The following are the editor's (James Collis) remarks.
> Mr.Bellison was a warm hearted, mild and quiet man. Rarely did one hear
> him raise his voice. No matter how excited his colleagues might become
> over an issue, he would discuss the problem in a quiet and reasoned
> language.
> This article is a veritable call-to-arms against the use of vibrato.
> Those who knew him well will chuckle at it's fire and excitement ,
> prompted by his zeal only to perfect his art. It will warm your heart
> whether or not you may happen to agree with his views.
>
>
> Vibrato in Wind Playing
>
> In music, vibrato means a wavering of the straight line of sound
> produced by an instrument or voice
> Many wind players use vibrato to impress the audience with their sound.
> But musicians gifted with the fortune of a fine sound do not need
> vibrato.
> Some of the worried ones, attempting to cover a deficiency of sound,
> vibrate slowly. Others do it slightly faster and the rest go ahead full
> speed.
> But nobody is sure if he is right or wrong. Because there are no rules
> or mechanical means of measurement to regulate the tempo of wavering
> Everyone does it according to his own taste, which too often means with
> no taste.
> We see and hear such "artists" on radio, television, in movies and "in
> person".
> One vibrates with his lips. The other used his throat or muscles. And
> some use everything comes to their minds.
> And so the land has become filled with young and old musicians,
> vibrating at home, at school and in the orchestra
> What was once a fad is now a style.
> What makes it worse is that it is contagious and has spread to the
> better class of musicians, thus affecting symphonies and schools
>
> This kinds of playing, of course, in used to the greatest extent in
> dance music and jazz.
> themore such players shake, the more they are recognized as artists.
> And little by little they promote themselves to the tittle of" King of
> jazz. In other words they are now
> geniuses.
>
> We hear such artists everywhere, day and night.
> Their most popular instruments are the saxophone and the trumpet. Both
> these instruments compete with each other to prove virtuosity.
> The speed of the vibration and loudness play main roles in the
> performance.
> And to arouse the ardor of the audience, the players twist themselves
> and their instruments up and down and sideways, and at the climax of
> this Saint Vitas dance look like victims of convulsion.
> That is "hot" playing in the language of these virtuosos.
> The rest of the world dances to music, too. Musicians play different
> dances-slow ones, classical and national. All are happy and free of
> vibration
> During the many years that I have been a teacher and performer, music
> schools and individual teachers have sent me many letters to ask about
> my experience with vibrato.
> I did not pay much attention to this problem before, but now that it has
> become a plague, I decided to tell openly what I think and know about
> this shaky playing.
>
> IN OTHER LANDS
>
> The question of vibrato does not exist in Europe. All winds as a rule
> must play without wavering.
> They use their natural color in orchestra, chamber music and solo
> playing
> Vibration in winds sounds as unpleasant as strings without vibration.
> Winds must not vibrate and most European conductors see to that they do
> not. Teachers, too, are spared the difficulty
> When Toscanini took the NY philharmonic took a concert tour of Europe in
> 1930, the conductor and orchestra were highly praised for their artistic
> performance. Yet the brass and winds were severely criticized for their
> vibrato.
>
> Wind players and students begin to vibrate because they are disappointed
> with their sound.
> They do not know how to correct the sound and become impatient.
> Here is where the teacher must come to the rescue..
> He must change the reeds and the mouthpiece, making sure that they suit
> the lips of the students.
> Besides taking care of the embouchure, he might require a better
> instrument. But the vibration must stop.
> The only instrument free to vibrate-but carefully - is the saxophone,
> even if it sometimes played in a symphony.
> It was born with a menagerie sound and is worse without vibration
> As a musician with a European background, I play with out vibrato.
> But at times I hear -or feel- a few seconds of vibration as I play.This
> happens in Romantic music where the there is an expression of a delicate
> phrase in a love scene.
> This vibration is entirely different. It is natural and comes from
> inside. It disappears as mysteriously as it came.
> Vibrato is dangerous and hard to get rid of. If America would follow the
> example of Europe it would get rid of shaky playing once and forever.
> Thus it would cast off the menace that kills the taste and development
> of legitimate music,
> I just want to add that this was published in 1953, long before the
> current debate on Vibrato. I have the feeling this was aimed for the
> Jazz craze. Interesting -no mention of clarinets. Avrahm Galper
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Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
Rosanne Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
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